Does the Experience of Parental Separation Matter? Differentials by Separation and Parent Absence in Norway.

Pauline Kleinschlömer, Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung
Lara Bister , WZB Berlin Social Science Center

Research consistently shows that children growing up in single-parent households have poorer outcomes across a range of well-being dimensions than children growing up with both parents. The literature identifies two key drivers of reduced well-being among children residing in single-parent families. (1) A reduction in emotional and financial resources available for the children; (2) An increase in stress during the period of parental separation, which may be caused by factors such as parental conflict or a lack of contact with the non-resident parent. We aim to contribute to the existing literature by comparing the school outcomes of children living in a single-parent family who have experienced parental separation by the age of 10 with those born into a single-parent family. We draw on Norwegian register data and use sequence analysis to identify different clusters of family structure transitions up to the age of 10. This encompasses children who have resided in a single-parent family continuously up to the age of 10, children who have transitioned to a single-parent family, and children who have transitioned to a stepfamily. Next, we compare the math and reading scores of children who have lived in a single-parent family continuously from birth to age 10 with the school performance of children who have experienced parental separation up to age 10. This will enhance our understanding of whether the lack of resources is a contributing factor to children's diminished well-being or whether the experience of parental separation itself is a factor influencing children's well-being.

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 Presented in Session 58. Single Parenthood and Complex Partnership Contexts